Page 178 - SST Class 07

Institutional
Representation of Democracy
q Universal adult franchise
q Political parties
Introduction
Democracy manifests itself through some of the
institutions which represent its spirit. These
institutions function to realise the democratic
aspirations of the people.
You have read that democracy resides in its basic
values and ideas, which are chiefly concerned with
the well-being of the people. In it, the will of the
people is supreme and all its actions should be as
per the democratic spirit. We shall discuss some of
the institutions through which the democratic spirit
of the people is manifested.
UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE
The term ‘franchise’ or ‘suffrage’ is meant ‘the
right to vote in elections’. In a direct democracy,
the people gather at one place and take decisions
directly. However, this practice cannot be put into
practice if the population is large. Some form of
direct democracy can be seen in our villages
where the villagers gather at the Gram Sabha in
order to determine some important cases.
In view of the practical difficulties, the idea of
indirect democracy was mooted. In this, the
people elect their representatives who rule them
on their behalf. In case, these representatives do
not work well, they may not be elected at the next
elections.
In the beginning in America and England, the right
to vote was not conferred on all people. Only
some people were given this right as only the rich
and the literate were considered meritorious
enough to do this important work. The poor and
Contemporary Social Science-7
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q Elections
women were given this right much later. The
downtrodden people had to fight for their rights
for a long time to get this right.
However, we in India have been fortunate, since
all classes of people have got this right from the
very beginning. Our leaders thought that the
British were compelled to leave the country only
because all people contributed in the freedom
movement, so all of them should be given the
right to vote. At present, all citizens of India above
the age of 18 years can cast vote in elections if
they are registered in the electoral rolls.
When all adult people of a country are given the
right to vote in elections, it is called universal
adult franchise. This principle rests on the
following merits :
q One Person—One Vote : In this, the vote cast
by any one citizen is valued at one, whether
he is rich or poor, young or old, literate or
illiterate.
q Responsible Government : The representatives
are elected to work for the well-being of the
people and the nation. In case they do not rule
well, they are not elected at the next elections,
and thus the people exercise their right to elect
or reject the representatives.
Woman Suffrage
In the beginning when democracy was introduced
in the world, it was considered that women cannot
perform all functions and that their world is limited
within four walls of the household. It was also
thought that they cannot take decisions on their
own, and can be impressed by the male family